location based services Archives

A lot has changed since we last wrote about Location-Based Services (LBS). Facebook aquired Gowalla and no longer consider LBS to be a standalone feature but a pervasive function of its entire platform. Checking-in using Facebook is very popular, with 1.8 million check-ins made everyday, but their LBS does not offer any specifics for purpose-built locations like music concerts and theaters. In contrast, the original LBS, Foursquare, has two features tailor-made your venue. AMEX GoSocial Late last year American Express entered into a partnership with Foursquare that gave AMEX cardholders exclusive discounts and specials when checking-in by linking the two accounts together. At the time, the Wall street Journal reported the partnership as a potentially lucrative one for business owners: Under the arrangement, AmEx customers can register their cards in the Foursquare system to get access to special offers from merchants who are also Foursquare participants. Customers who shop at those merchants with an AmEx card will receive credits and an electronic notification that they have redeemed the offer. Merchants who participate in the program would potentially see increased sales. Since then the AMEX+Foursquare partnership has been vastly expanded and is now in use at tens of thousands of locations nationwide. Your venue may already offer AMEX as a payment option for ticket purchases -- either on your website or at the box office window. Since you and your customers already have an established amount of trust in the secure nature of payment with AMEX, it would be a natural extension of that trust to participate in the GoSocial specials offered on Foursquare: GoSocial is a tool American Express introduced to help small merchants, who may or may not be familiar with social channels, understand that social marketing is a good thing to do...It enables American Express merchants to claim their Foursquare venue and run specials using Foursquare and American Express’s “load to card” partnership. It then provides reports about resulting transactions. Foursquare Specials at concerts At SXSW 2012 Foursquare launched specials designed specifically for concerts that rewarded music fans with tickets to private shows, posters, and other free merchandise. The feature was originally designed for artists wanting to enrich their fans’ shared experience. With the SXSW premiere now over, the concert Specials are available for you to make use of at your venue. From the Foursquare for Music page: People love checking in to concerts on foursquare. When they’re at a show, there’s no easier way to brag to their friends, and share photos from those front row seats. And now, there’s a great way to reward your biggest fans – Foursquare Specials at Concerts. A great example of how a venue makes good use of check-ins is the Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington. Note that in a little over one year more than 8,000 people have checked-in: https://foursquare.com/v/experience-music-project/43601880f964a5202d291fe3 With their page established, they enable visitors to claim special offers. Even if the visitor doesn’t make use of a special, Foursquare’s mobile app broadcasts the same offer to all the visitors’ friends as a push notification. The type of specials you offer are customizable and you may choose to run specials for every event or just a time sensitive, one-time-only, offer.

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